Labs continue to speed up COVID-19 testing, but it’s still taking a while for some results to get back to the Indiana State Department of Health. During state officials’ press conference Tuesday, State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said a few labs are now up and running in Indiana, including one in the northern part of the state.
“I did just have a discussion with your hospital systems up in LaPorte and Porter County and Lake County, and it’s Alverno Labs that is running labs up there and getting a turnaround time of about 12 to 24 hours for you,” she said. “So that has really helped your hospital systems up there to get those results back more quickly so that they don’t have to actually send them to Indianapolis to get that done.”
Box said that the results are typically added to the state’s official count within 24 hours. But outside labs are still backlogged, meaning that some cases don’t make it onto the list for weeks. Box explained that the big increases seen in Tuesday’s COVID-19 didn’t all happen in one day. “The results we post every day are based on when the data are reported to us at the Indiana State Department of Health,” she said. “For instance, the deaths that were reported today actually have occurred in the 14 days prior to this, from March 21 to March 30. The Indiana State Department of Health does not report death until we have a confirmed positive test for COVID-19.” She said that in some cases, a patient has died, and it wasn’t until later that the test came back positive.
When it comes to who has COVID-19 and where they might have been, the amount of information released to the public appears to vary greatly from county to county. Box said that’s normally up to each county health department, but state health officials have also been engaged in many of the cases. “I can tell you that I have seen counties that have listed every single place in the county because someone with COVID-19 was there, even if it was to run in to get a gallon of milk or to fill up their car with gas,” Box said. “That becomes a list of pretty much every business, every facility, every spot in the county, and really doesn’t help anybody going forward.” She stressed that health officials have to balance the need to trace contacts with a patient’s right to privacy.
Box said she thinks the surge in COVID-19 patients is starting, but for now, the number of cases and deaths will continue to increase. “I don’t want to minimize a single one of those losses,” she said. “They are all someone’s spouse, grandparent, parent, child, or friend, and I do not want Hoosiers to see these rising numbers and think that that means that the peak has arrived. We have a very long way to go before we reach the peak, and I cannot say enough about how important it is for you to continue to stay home.”
Box said if Hoosiers won’t stay home for themselves, they should do it for their loved ones, neighbors, and the 49 Hoosiers who have already died from the disease.
